


Unexpected

by Cowoline



Series: The unexpected revelations of Kallo Jath and Sara Ryder [1]
Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Innocence, One Shot, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-01
Updated: 2017-03-01
Packaged: 2018-09-27 16:54:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10034921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cowoline/pseuds/Cowoline
Summary: A small look into Kallo Jath's opinion on the new pathfinder, Sara Ryder, where colleagues become friends - and possibly something else. One-shotMinor spoilers for Mass Effect: Andromeda





	

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: This does contain MINOR SPOILERS to Mass Effect Andromeda. If you want to be completely spoiler free, then please revisit at a later date :)
> 
> This is based on what very little information we have at this point. The characters might have been protrayed completely wrong. This is not a confirmation on any romance and so on.
> 
> In any case I hope you all enjoy it :)
> 
> All right belong to BIOWARE and the Mass Effect genre. 
> 
> P.S. This was rushed, so please forgive any typoes.

Kallo remembered the first time he saw her. Alec Ryder, the human pathfinder, was to inspect the ship and brought his two children with him. Kallo didn’t know why, but when children were mentioned he had imagined actual children, so he was surprised when two adults showed up with their father. Kallo made a note, that perhaps he should begin to pay a little attention to the recruitment roster instead of only the ship’s schematics. Kallo had worked with humans for awhile, and though he did not consider himself an expert on their behaviour, he did find that Alec Ryder seemed very distant. Scott was hostile towards his father, where Sara was more - diplomatic. The twins seemed like night and day, Scott immediately approaching him and asking him all sort of questions about the ship - not even having the patience to let Kallo introduce himself - while Sara was quiet and merely observed, as her brother kept the conversation going. She was hardly noticeable, yet for some reason Kallo had kept a clear memory of  how focused she was - despite her being silent she seemed to pay a lot more attention than Scott. She was also the only one to thank him, when they left.

Sara seemed to fade in the background of both her father and brother, but not long after entering andromeda a cool intellect revealed itself, along with an easy going yet professional personality. Yet, many were surprised, when Sara became the new pathfinder - especially Sara herself. Kallo clearly remembered hearing a conversation between Sara and Vetra.

“It shouldn’t be me. I’m a scientist not a grunt. It should have been Scott or Cora,” she sighed clearly knowing that it would not be an easy to fill the shoes before her.

“But it’s not. It’s you and you need to come to terms with that, so you can do your duty,” the turian was stern as she spoke and stood with a rigid back and her arms crossed. Kallo wondered if a more - subtle approach might have been better, but Ryder seemed to respond well to the turian’s firmness. 

“You’re right of course,” Ryder replied straightening her back.

Still he thought some encouragement would be in order.

“You will do well,” Kallo offered in a friendly voice, and Ryder smiled as she thanked him.

Kallo, had to admit that he admired her from the very beginning. They even seemed to build a friendship between them. For some reason he found that it pleased him, especially as he got to know the young Ryder better.

The same could not be said for Cora, who seemed to despise Ryder. Cora was hardheaded, impulsive and almost brutal, where Sara was cautious, amiable and diplomatic. Despite Sara’s efforts their relationship remained - strained. One night Cora came by the bridge.

“Have the resources the pathfinder gathered arrived yet?” Cora asked.

“Yes, they have just arrived in the cargo bay,” Kallo replied as he checked the console.

“Have them send to the department of artillery and defence,” Cora instructed.

“But Ryder said that it should be send to the research department,” he objected.

“I am your superior, and I gave you an order,” Cora said an icy voice.

“I will follow the instructions, I was given by the person in command,” Kallo insisted.

Cora’s eyes flared with anger, but before she could say anything, Vetra showed up behind her.

“Kallo, is following protocol. I suggest you do the same,” Vetra’s voice was like that of a stern mother, and like a teenager Cora turned to Vetra.

“Don’t you lecture me,” she sneered in a deadly voice, but Vetra remained calm.

“I am merely reminding you.” the turian replied, to which Cora merely huffed and all but stormed out the room.

“Should I monitor her using the ship’s sensors?” Kallo asked.

“No, but we might have to keep an eye on her. Sara has enough on her mind as it is without having to deal with insubordination,” Vetra sighed and nodded at Kallo before leaving the bridge as well. 

The episode had left him feeling - disquiet. But when Sara came by the next morning, with a beverage for both him and her, he did not mention it. Selfishly perhaps, since he enjoyed their pleasant and slightly casual conversations that only happened in the mornings. He would rather not see it soured by a minor incident. He also figured Vetra would probably inform Sara herself.

Things did calm down after a while, and despite everything Ryder became a thoughtful and skillful leader of the Tempest’s crew. Even managed to make friends, and Kallo counted himself among them. But as was expected with a ship that small, gossip became commonplace. Suddenly there were rumours about Sara and Peebee having a fling, which Kallo was certain to be a falsehood - though asari did seem quite attractive to humans. Not long after it was Liam and Ryder, that was supposedly the new blossoming romance.

“They have been spending so much time together,” Peebee stated leaning on the back of his chair - herself much more intrigued by the gossip than Kallo was.

“They play games, drink beers and laugh so loud you can hear it from the mess hall to the crew quarters,” 

“It is not uncommon for colleagues to engage in such activities,” Kallo replied, focusing on the console in front of him.

“Not like that it’s not,” Peebee snickered.

Usually Kallo was not bothered by Peebee’s chatter, but that day it really aggravated him. He wasn’t really sure why - besides the topic being an increasingly dull one. And not long after that Jaal joined and the scenario repeated itself with Peebee sitting awkwardly on the chair next to him.

“... not that I blame her of course. He is so… different,” Peebee stated as she kept throwing a plushy into the air and catching it.

“Or it could simply be that she is being a professional and focusing on the task at hand,” Kallo offered, trying not to sneer his annoyance. Sara Ryder was a professional, and had demonstrated such on many occasions.

“A young human woman not looking for romance? You’re joking right?” Peebee had replied with great amusement.

It had not been long after that, before Peebee came to the helm nagging him about landing on a planet, where she had traced a signal to. He had attempted to explain the implications of landing on the hostile planet, with barely any even ground. Peebee had left in a surly mood after that, but he thought nothing of it until around thirty minutes later. Kallo was going through some diagnostics, when an alarm suddenly sounded.

“One of the escape pods was just launched!” Suvi said frantically.

Kallo looked at the monitor and he saw that it was Peebee’s. Wonderful!

“Try to recall it!” He ordered as he began running a dozen algorithms, to see  if he could predict its trajectory.

“The pod is not responding!” Suvi replied.

To say Kallo was annoyed would have been an understatement, but when he checked who was in the pod and found that Ryder was in there with Peebee, his heartbeat quickened. He had to cringe as he saw how the pod entered orbit, and immediately attempted to use the comm. 

“Ryder! Come in! Are you alright?” his voice sounding a little unfamiliar to himself.

“Ryder has arrived safely on the planet’s surface. They are going to investigate the signal,” SAM informed him and Kallo gave a sigh of relief.

He then turned to the bridge personal.

“Back to your duties. Suvi help me find a way to retrieve the pod safely,” Kallo instructed.

“Yes sir,” Suvi replied and started making a scan of the terrain surrounding the pod and now stranded crew.

When they finally managed to get them all back on board, Kallo was of a mind to give Peebee a strong lecture of safety protocols, when using the escape pods. He walked directly into the room, where Sara was removing her heavy armour and Peebee was leaning against the lockers.

“I expect you not to be that reckless again,” Sara said sternly, but Peebee made light of it.

“We needed to get to the vault and we did. You know it is useful,” the asari grinned broadly.

“You still owe me,” Sara stated with a smirk and then turned to see Kallo standing in the doorway, “Hey Kallo,” she gave a genuine smile.

“I am pleased to see you got back in one piece,” Kallo said as friendly as ever and then turned towards Peebee with a stern gaze.

“I know that look well enough to know, where this is going. I’ll see you two later.” Peebee replied and bolted.

Sara chuckled and shook her head.

“She is going to get us killed,” Kallo said dryly, which only made Sara chuckle even more.

“That’s entirely possible,” she then made a grimace and put her hand on her side.

“You are hurt,” Kallo frowned.

“It’s just a bruise, I got from the “landing”,” Sara dismissed.

“You should go see Dr. Lexi. At least before Peebee makes another attempt on your life,” he joked - sort of.

“You were concerned,” she realised and turned to look at him.

“You are a valued colleague and I consider you a friend, so naturally I was concerned,” he stated as a matter of fact - a little astonished that she needed a clarification.

The look she gave him was not quite like anything he had seen from her before, and he could swear that the pigment of her skin had slightly changed. From her annoyance with Peebee perhaps? The proximity to the lava might have given her a slight tan. Or it could simple be from the exercise on the planet - as he came to think of it her breathing did seem a little uneven. She walked over to the door, but stopped right next to him. She leaned up and for a brief moment kissed his shallow cheek.

“Thank you for worrying,” she murmured not making eye contact and walked out the door.

Kallo turned to watch her leave, and he might not have known a great deal about human customs, but he knew THAT was not protocol between friends or colleagues. 

Five minutes later the door opened to Sara’s room and she walked in. When the door closed behind her she leaned against it. Her heart was thundering in her chest, and she finally released a smile she had been concealing on her way to her quarters.

“He likes me,” she whispered as her smile broadened, and had to resist the urge to dive into her bed and squealing into her pillow.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this small piece of fanfiction. Please leave a comment and I hope you have a nice day :)


End file.
